Promoted to the Championship from League One for 2015-16:
-Bristol City…
This is the club’s first appearance back in the 2nd division in 3 years [last in 2012-13].
-Milton Keynes…
This is the franchise’s 1st appearance in the 2nd division since Milton-Keynes-&-Winkleman stole Wimbledon’s place in the League (May 2002) [/and then were relegated out of the 2nd division in 2003-04]). Excerpt from the Milton Keynes Dons page at Wikipedia…”The result of Wimbledon F.C.’s relocation to Milton Keynes from south London in September 2003, the club officially considers itself to have been founded in 2004, when it adopted its present name, badge and home colours.” So, bearing that in mind, this [2015-16] can be considered Milton Keynes’ first season in the 2nd division.
-Preston North End…
This is the club’s first appearance back in the 2nd division in 5 years [last in 2010-11].

-Relegated to the Championship from Premier League for 2015-16:
Hull City (after a two-season spell in the Premier League, Hull City are back in the 2nd division).
Burnley (a yo-yo club, going up then back down).
Queens Park Rangers (a serious yo-yo club, going up then down then back up then back down once again).
___
Thanks to all at the links below…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.

From the Footy Headlines site, Sheffield United 15-16 Home Kit Released (footyheadlines.com). On the map, you will notice that there is a larger red shield floating in the North Sea, and that is Sheffield United’s crest for this season – a 125-year anniversary nod to their first crest, from 1890-91. From the brilliant and invaluable site Historical Football Kits, …’ A crest appeared in the 1890-91 season that consisted of the badge of Sheffield, featuring three sheaves of wheat, apparently a typical heraldic play on words, Shef-field being interpreted as “the open space by the River Sheaf.” (quote from historicalkits.co.uk/Sheffield_United/Sheffield_United.htm). The following season (1891-92) was the first season the Blades wore their ‘butcher’s-stripes’ red-white-verticals, but they were pinstripe-width red verticals (fat-red-verticals appeared on Blades’ jerseys a few years later in 1894-95…and, much to the disgruntlement of many supporters, Sheffield Utd will be wearing the pinstripe-width red verticals this season).

Sheffield United, the highest-or-second-highest-drawing 3rd division club the last 4 seasons, will hope that the fifth time is the charm, as they try once again to get out of League One and back on to the path to the top flight, where they were last seen in 2006-07. One can’t help thinking that the black cloud hovering over Sheffield United settled into place there in South Yorkshire in May/June 2007, when the Blades went down from the Premier League only because of the independent Premier League commission’s outrageous decision to only impose a £5.5m fine instead of a points deduction. The Premier League thus rewarded anarchy and cheating by merely giving West Ham a slap on the wrist. Sure, it was expensive slap on the wrist for the Hammers big-shots, but guess who got to stay up? The claret-and-sky-blue cheaters. (You know, that whole affair – the West-Ham-cheating-via-signing-Carlos-Tevez-affair, despite the fact that WHUFC knew it was an illegal Third Party Ownership deal.)

…Notes for 2015-16 League One…
-Last season’s (2014-15) League 1 total league average attendance was 7,034 per game/ median avg crowd was the 5,694 drawn by Gillingham.
-Two seasons ago (2013-14), the League 1 total avg attendance was a bit higher [about 440-per-game-higher than 14/15] at 7,476/ median avg crowd was the 6,219 drawn by Gillingham.
-Three seasons ago (2012-13), the League 1 total avg attendance was a bit lower [about 700-per-game-lower than 14/15] at 6,319/ median avg crowd was the 5,522 drawn by Notts County.
-(Don’t try to read too much into the above, because League 1 avg crowd-size variability is largely a function of how many medium-to-big-ish clubs get stuck in League 1 in any given season. And this season, there are 5 such clubs: Blackpool, Bradford City, Coventry City, Sheffield United, Wigan Athletic. [Clarification - by 'medium-to-big-ish clubs', I mean to say: Clubs which can draw above ~15 K in a good year.])

-Promoted from League Two for 15/16:
Burton Albion
Shrewsbury Town (yo-yo club)
Bury
Southend United

-I know I have not been following English football for that long (since circa 2003-04), but I have never come across a season in the Football League which features one of the divisions having four times as many Greater Manchester-based clubs as Greater London-based clubs. The 2015-16 Football League One has 4 quasi-Mancunian clubs (Bury, Rochdale, Oldham Athletic, Wigan Athletic), and only one London-based-club (Millwall). OK, I know it was happening in, like, say, 1903-04 in the Second Division, because of course the Football League (est. 1888-89) initially grew from Northern-and-Midlands-based clubs, exclusively. But by 1907-08 there were [more than 1 London-based club, with] Clapton Orient and Fulham as lower-league-clubs in the Second Division. And I seriously doubt it [it being just one London team in a Football League division], has happened much at all since the 1920s. And this clustering up North in the third tier is even more pronounced than just that, because there are only 5 clubs in League One, currently, that can be considered Southern clubs (Colchester Utd, Southend Utd, Swindon Town, Millwall, Gillingham). Meanwhile Northern clubs are thick on the ground in the third tier now…2 clubs from Lancashire, 4 from Greater Manchester, 4 from Yorkshire, 1 from North Lincolnshire, 1 from North Derbyshire, and 2 from the Potteries/south Cheshire. It is such a thick cluster that many clubs (such as Chesterfield and Port Vale and Crewe) are going to have considerably less travel-time and less travel-costs this season.

-*Asterisk-note:
Because of a dispute between the venue-operators of the Ricoh Stadium (Arena Coventry, Ltd) and the Coventry City owners (a Bond-villian-worthy Hedge fund corporation called SISU), Coventry City played all their home matches in 13/14 and several of their homes matches early in 14/15 ~35 mi SE of Coventry, in the town of Northampton (at Sixfields, home of 4th division side Northampton Town). Supporter-protest resulted in very low attendances for these matches (ie, Coventry used to draw 14-16 K regularly, but were drawing only 2-3 K playing in Northants). CCFC have returned to their home-venue (the Ricoh Stadium), but more legal action (on both sides) is inevitable, and CCFC supporters are still stuck in the middle of this corporate farce.

-Finally, check out the rather-low-yet-rising attendance figures for one-quarter of the current League One… Six of the twenty-four current [2015-16] League One clubs drew under 4 K per game last season. And FIVE of those minnow-clubs have won promotion to the third division in the last two seasons:
-Bury, at 3.7 K (promoted to League One in May 2015).
-Scunthorpe Utd, at 3.6 K (promoted to League One in May 2014).
-Fleetwood Town, at 3.5 K (promoted to League One, for the first time, in May 2014).
-Rochdale AFC, at 3.3 K (promoted to League One in May 2015).
-Burton Albion, at 3.2 K (promoted to League One, for the first time, in May 2015).

-League histories of clubs: a lot I have used (here on the chart on the map page) came from research I had done ~5 years ago, via a source (at Football 360 site) that is now sadly gone (and has not been replaced, anywhere, it seems, on the Internet [I am talking about comprehensive League histories of all English football clubs who have been in the Football League]). Some of the info I have used here on the chart on the map page came from Footy-Mad sites, such as Bury-mad, here, bury-mad.co.uk/league_history…but that means you basically have to literally count, by hand, the seasons a club has spent in each division (it is a lot of thankless work, I’ll tell you). Also, some info was found at some clubs’ Wiki pages (some clubs’ Wiki pages have their League histories spelt out, such as w/ Sheff Utd, here, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_United_F.C.#League_history).

Canadian Football League: location-map for 2015, with 2014 attendances and percent-capacities & titles-listed-by-team./
Plus illustrations for the 3 new stadiums in the CFL (Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg)./
Plus an editorial on the present-day Montreal Alouettes’ bogus claim to the 4 CFL titles won by the Montreal Alouettes (I) (1961-81).

2014: the completely renovated 24,000-capacity stadium and an expansion-CFL-team in Ottawa (the Ottawa RedBlacks)…
First and second photos below: on July 18, 2014…after a 9-year absence, the CFL returns to Canada’s capital – opening day at TD Place Stadium at Lansdowne Park, with the completely renovated (and not at-that-point completely re-built) stadium, playing host to 24,000 football-starved fans. The Ottawa RedBlacks beat the Argonauts 18-17. But the RedBlacks only won once more in their debut season (going 2-16). Here is the wiki page off the Ottawa RedBlacks, Ottawa RedBlacks (en.wikipedia.com).
Photo and Image credits above -
Long-view aerial shot, photo by aerialphotographs.ca. Helmet photo from morethanjustcaps.com. Aerial shot with construction sites L R & Ctr, photo by Front Page Media Group at frontpagemediagroup.ca. RedBlacks jerseys (illustration circa 2014), by Cmm3 at File:CFL OTT Jersey.png (en.wikipedia.org).

…

2014: new stadium in Hamilton for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats…
At the following link there are lots of photos of, and info on, the Tiger-Cats’ nice new 24,000-capacity stadium: Tim Hortons Field…Tim Hortons Field/Stadium experience (ticats.ca).

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were formed in 1950 as a result of a merger of two football teams from Hamilton, Ontario: the black-and-gold-clad Hamilton Tigers (established in 1869 as Hamilton Football Club, with 5 Grey Cup titles [1913, 1915, 1928, 1929, 1932]), and the red-and-white-clad Hamilton Flying Wildcats (established in 1941, and winners of the 1943 Grey Cup title). All of the 6 Grey Cup titles in the last sentence are not claimed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have won 8 Grey Cup titles (1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1986, 1999).

The Oskie-Wee-Wee, Oskie-Wah-Wah cheer is kind of corny, but it also is definitely great fun. The Hamilton faithful sing it every game, and it serves as a rallying cry. In the third photo below, you can see most everyone in the stands there in Canada’s Steel City belting out the goofy cheer at the top of their lungs. Here is the wiki page off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (en.wikipedia.com).
Photo and Image credits above -
Helmet illustration by mghelmets.com/canada. Aerial shot from Calgary Stampeders’ Twitter account, https://twitter.com/calstampeders/status/500359211578970114. Interior field & crowd shots by Hamilton Tiger-Cats at ticats.ca/tim-hortons-field-overview. Ti-Cats jerseys (illustration circa 2014), by Cmm3 at File:CFL HAM Jersey.png (en.wikipedia.org).

…

Here is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ new stadium, which opened in May 2013…
Winnipeg Football Club was formed in 1930, as Winnipeg Rugby Football Club. Their original colors were green and white. Two years later, in 1932, the club merged with St Johns Rugby Club of Winnipeg, retaining the name ‘Winnipeg Football Club’, but changing their colors to dark blue and gold. In 1935, the team got their nickname after the sportswriter for the Winnipeg Tribune, Vince Leah, began referring to them as the ‘Blue Bombers of Western football’. That same year the team won their first Grey Cup title, beating the Hamilton Tigers 18-12 (thus becoming the first team from Western Canada to win the Grey Cup title). Winnipeg Football Club (aka the Blue Bombers) have won 10 Grey Cup titles (1935, 1939, 1941, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1984, 1988, 1990). As seen on the sign on the stadium exterior in the second photo below, to this day the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are officially known as the Winnipeg Football Club.
Here is the wiki page off the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Blue Bombers (en.wikipedia.org).
Photo and Image credits above -
Helmet illustration by mghelmets.com/canada. Aerial shot of stadium by Winnipeg Blue Bombers at stadiumdb.com/stadiums/can. Blue Bombers jerseys (illustration circa 2014), by Cmm3 at File:CFL WPG Jersey.png. Exterior shot of the stadium: photo by Phil Hossack at winnipegfreepress.com.

The chart on the right-hand-side of the map page shows the average attendances of CFL teams from the last 3 seasons (2012, 2013, 2014). Also shown are 2014 stadium-seated-capacities and each teams’ 2014 percent-capacities (Percent-capacity equals Average Attendance divided by Stadium-seated-capacity).

Titles are listed at the far right of the chart. Notes below that chart touch upon how 1). Hamilton has opted to not claim titles won by the original Hamilton Tigers football club (because that is what the folks in charge of the football club back then felt was the proper thing to do); and 2). how Montreal Alouettes (III) are trying to pretend they won 4 titles as the original Montreal Alouettes (I), despite the fact that that original team folded in 1987 (because the current Alouettes franchise is trying to re-write history/ see below).

Grey Cup titles (aka CFL titles) that are listed for each team on the 2 charts on the map page are for that franchise, not for other franchises that a current CFL franchise is trying to pass off as their own history (see previous sentence above). See below, for why the CFL’s claim and the Montreal Alouettes (III) claim to the 4 CFL titles won by the original Montreal Alouettes (I) is dishonest and should not be acknowledged.

Regarding the present-day Montreal Alouettes’ bogus claim on the 4 CFL titles won by the Montreal Alouettes (I) (1961-81)…

On the map, the Montreal Alouttes (III) are listed as having won 4 CFL titles, and not the 7 CFL titles they claim, for the reasons elaborated below…

The following two excerpts are from the Wikipedia page on the CFL team called the Baltimore Stallions…”However, when it became apparent that the CFL was writing off its American experiment as a lost cause, the [Baltimore Stallions owner Jim Speros] decided to relocate the Stallions franchise to Montreal as the now third incarnation of the Montreal Alouettes. Speros kept the Alouettes for only one year before selling the franchise to current owner Robert C. Wetenhall in 1997.”… /…”The CFL does not officially consider the Stallions to be part of the Alouettes’ history. According to official league records, Speros canceled the Stallions franchise after the 1995 season and reclaimed the dormant Alouettes franchise. Consequently, when Speros moved the team to Montreal, all of the Stallions’ players were released from their contracts, though [General Manager Jim] Popp managed to resign many of them…”{end of excerpts at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Stallions}.

The extra titles (the 4 CFL titles won by the original Montreal Alouettes) that this present-day Montreal Alouettes (III) franchise claims were won by a separate franchise, namely Montreal Alouettes (I), which existed from 1946 to 1981, and won 4 CFL titles (in 1949, 1970, 1974, 1977). [Note: Montreal Concordes/Alouettes (II), which existed from 1982-86, won zero CFL titles and folded in June 1987, 2 days before the start of the 1987 CFL season.]

Both those earlier Montreal Alouettes franchises folded. The [2015] present-day Montreal Alouettes (III), which first played as the Baltimore CFLers and the Baltimore Stallions, played 2 CFL seasons when they were located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA (in 1994 and 1995), and did win a CFL title (in 1995). This is the only other CFL title that Montreal Alouettes (III) should be claiming, besides, of course the 3 CFL titles that the franchise has won as the third version of the Montreal Alouettes (III) – in 2002, 2009, and 2010. Because that CFL franchise, that spent its first 2 years in Baltimore, was (and still is) the team which moved from Baltimore to Montreal in 1996. The present-day Montreal Alouettes franchise has always had nothing to do with those two earlier CFL franchises in Montreal other than occupying the same location, and so therefore as dictated by logic and pro sports convention, the present-day Montreal Alouettes should not get to claim those titles.

And if that doesn’t convince you, they why don’t the present-day Ottawa Senators NHL team (est. 1991, and with zero Stanley Cup titles) claim the 11 Stanley Cup titles won by the original incarnation of the Ottawa Senators ? (The original Ottawa Senators (I) existed from 1883 to 1934 and won the last of their 11 Stanley Cup titles in 1926-27. Declining attendance and the Depression forced the Senators to sit out the 1931-32 NHL season, then a couple years later, the franchise left Ottawa and moved to St. Louis, MO as the St. Louis Eagles, in 1934-35, and then the franchise folded 8 months later in April 1935, as one of the very many pro sports teams in North America which fell victim to the Great Depression.)

I’ll tell you why the present-day Ottawa Senators (II) don’t claim the Original Senators’ 11 Stanley Cup titles…because it would be stupid and false and cheap – in other words, it would be fraudulent – to claim titles that your organization had nothing to do with, other than later occupying the same location under the same name as the original title-winning organization. Take two people from the same town with the same name – one in the present-day and one from the distant past…that latter-day person has no right to claim the accomplishments of that earlier person. Duh. This is not rocket science. And sentimentality has no place in this discussion. The Oakland A’s own the 5 MLB World Series titles won by the Philadelphia Athletics. The Los Angeles Dodgers own the 1 MLB World Series title won by the Brooklyn Dodgers (in 1955). The San Francisco Giants own the 5 MLB World Series titles won by the New York Giants. The Indianapolis Colts own the 3 NFL titles (incl. 1 Super Bowl title) won by the Baltimore Colts. And yes, although Canadian puck-heads do not like to talk about it, the Arizona Coyotes, and not the new version of the Winnipeg Jets (II), own the 3 WHA Avco Cup titles that the original Winnipeg Jets (I) won in the 1970s, when that franchise was in the WHA, a decade before the Winnipeg Jets (I) slunk off to the desert in Arizona in 1996. Period.

In all these aforementioned cases, the organization in question – the organization which won the title(s), is a distinct entity. The city did not win the title, regardless of the support that that city gave the pro team. The pro team won the title…and if that pro team moves, than the titles go with them. And if that pro team folds, the titles still exist, but they now go unclaimed in perpetuity. Too bad for the residents of the cities whose title-winning franchises either folded or absconded from that city – but there you have it. Sometimes life sucks. To say that the present-day Montreal Alouettes (III) deserve to claim the legacy (including the 4 Grey Cup titles) of the original Alouettes teams – teams that folded and thus ceased to exist – is to say that it is OK to re-write history to serve selfish and sentimental needs.

Here is what the NHL media guide has to say about why the present-day Ottawa Senators do not claim the 11 Stanley Cup titles of the original Ottawa Senators who existed from 1883 to 1934…
“NHL Media Guide 2010. …“The original Senators (also known as the Ottawa Hockey Club) organization won eleven Stanley Cups, not the current organization founded in 1990. Neither the NHL or the Senators claim the current Senators to be a continuation of the original organization or franchise. The awards, statistics and championships of both eras are kept separate and the NHL franchise founding date of the current Senators is in 1991.”…”… {end of excerpt at footnote at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Senators#cite_note-1 (en.wikipedia.org)}.

The one CFL title that the franchise of the Montreal Alouettes (III) should be claiming…the 1995 CFL title of the Baltimore Stallions…just happens to be the only Grey Cup title won by a CFL team not located in Canada. Nice try re-writing history, CFL. And don’t give me this story about how the second iteration of the Alouettes, who folded in 1987, went into dormancy. How come you (the CFL) never announced that in 1987 ? Where is there any fact to the effect that the Montreal Alouettes’ franchise was in dormancy in the 1987-to 1995 time period ? You just made that “dormant franchise” BS up, when it suited your needs. Here is a Youtube video of a CBC broadcast from June 24 1987, the day the Montreal Alouettes (II) folded…the 7-minute video contains a very thorough discussion about the demise of the Montreal Alouettes (II)…and there are exactly zero mentions that the franchise has gone into a “dormant” state…Alouettes Fold (1987) {7:23 video uploaded by retrosask at youtube.com)}. At the 0:18 point in the video, the CBC newsreader says, “…mark a dark day in the Canadian Football League’s history: commissioner Doug Mitchell, in the CFL’s headquarters in Toronto, announcing that the Montreal Alouettes are no longer…” {quote transcribed from CBC broadcast of 24 June 1987}. You get that, CFL front office circa-1995-&-96? You guys said that the Alouettes were dead on June 24, 1987. In a press conference. So, CFL-front-office-of-1995-&-96, how did you revive this DEAD FRANCHISE ? How? That franchise was pronounced dead in 1987 – and you guys said it. Dead is dead, you weasels in the CFL front office. What, CFL, you think eight years later we all forgot that you read the last rites to the Montreal Alouettes franchise? I guess the Alouettes franchise-mark-three-and-born-in-1996 are actually the Undead – like a frigging zombie-franchise or something. Or maybe the Montreal Alouettes-mark-three think they actually are the Only Begotten Son, and the CFL are actually a magical Sky Wizard. Because by declaring, 8 years after the team folded, that the Montreal Alouettes were in fact a “dormant franchise” means that the CFL thinks that they can bring back the dead.

Here is the gist of what the CFL said to the Baltimore Stallions’ franchise in early 1996, as that franchise was in the process of relocating to Montreal:
‘We can’t be ever mentioning or reminding Canadian sports fans that one of our current franchises won its first CFL title while located in the USA. So let’s pretend this new version of the Alouettes is connected to the original version of the Alouettes. We’ll make it legit by saying your franchise, the Baltimore Stallions, have folded, and have taken over the Alouettes’ franchise that was in dormancy. Yeah, that’s it – dormancy. You know, like how the Cleveland Browns fans got the NFL to re-write their history after Baltimore stole their team. Then you guys in the Baltimore Stallions front office can just change you business cards to read ‘Montreal Alouettes’, and you guys can just pretend that you released all your players, then you can re-sign most of them as Alouettes, as you see fit. Heck, Mr Piros, here, have those 4 old titles the original Alouettes won…they’re just laying around collecting dust. Let’s buff them up and put them on your mantlepiece, and pretend that you new guys earned those 4 Grey Cup titles. And while we’re at it, let’s all conspire to pretend that your franchise never won the Grey Cup in the States. In a few years, people will start to forget about that harebrained scheme we had to try to expand into the USA. And up here in Canada, hopefully most sports fans will forget you guys originally came from America.’

Nomenclature aside, the new guys who are using the old Alouettes name had nothing to do with the original Alouettes, and they certainly did not earn those 4 Grey Cup titles that the original Montreal Alouettes won. The CFL cheapens their biggest asset -the Grey Cup itself – by this cavalier behavior, and by its historical revisionism on the matter of the Baltimore/Montreal franchise shift.
_____Thanks to…
Globe-map of Canada by: Aquarius.geomar.de at File:Canada (orthographic projection).svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
Blank map of Canada by: S Tyx and Sémhur and Riba, at File:Blank map of Canada.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
Provinces-map of Canada by E Pluribus Anthony at File:Political map of Canada.png.